Childress: Stilson lost for season with labrum tear

OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas A&M coach Rob Childress was as emotional as I’ve seen him in talking about John Stilson’s season-ending injury late Saturday afternoon. Stilson, the Aggies’ hard-throwing ace, has a torn labrum, Childress said following the Aggies’ 9-8, 11-inning victory over Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament.

“My disappointment is not for my team,” Childress told me in a tunnel of Bricktown Ballpark. “It’s for John. He’s given us everything he’s had from the day he stepped on campus at Texas A&M, and for him to not be a part of the most fun time of the year breaks my heart. This is a guy who’s 110 percent sold out to our program and our team and his teammates. That’s what breaks my heart.”

In terms of moving forward without their ace, Childress said of the upcoming NCAA tournament, “Next week it really comes down to who’s coming to College Station. How the matchups work as far as who we’re going one, two or three.”

Stilson is a junior and was a projected first-round selection in next month’s amateur draft. I asked Childress what the injury means for Stilson’s future.

“That’s something that will be determined obviously in a couple of weeks as far as the draft goes,” Childress said.

Childress said they got the results of an MRI taken a couple of days ago just before Saturday’s game against Kansas State. Meanwhile A&M will face Missouri in Sunday’s 1 p.m. title game, and try and press on without their ace in the league tournament, and then more importantly in the NCAA postseason.